Now, researchers Mark Jacobson of Stanford and Mark Delucchi of U.C. Davis have calculated that it is possible to meet 100 percent of world energy demand using only energy from clean sources by 2050. They say we can do it -- and, what's more, we can do it using only off-the-shelf technology.
[....]
What's the greatest obstacle to realizing their vision? According to Jacobson and Delucchi, it is not technological or even economic, but social and political. As they point out, "current energy markets, institutions, and policies have been developed to support the production and use of fossil fuels."
[...]
Clean-energy advocates in the U.S. have prioritized the goals of required renewable energy targets, energy efficiency measures, and an end to the $10 billion in U.S. subsidies to dirty fuels, but these policies are up against relentless opposition from those who benefit from the status quo. If demand remains steady, policies to systematically shutter old, polluting power plants are essential to creating a strong market for clean energy.
As costs come down for renewables, we are waking up to the true costs of dependence on dirty energy: how it leaves our lives and communities in ruins. From extraction to combustion to waste disposal, hidden costs burden society in the form of health problems, irreversible environmental damage, and even premature death. Harvard Medical School analysts say coal alone generates as much as $523 billion per year in burdens to society, which is more than twice the total amount of electric utility revenue in 2009
***********************
Think of it as an investment in the future.
A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.
D. Elton Trueblood
waterfall
Posted on: 12/05/2011 11:15
Yesterday I watched the old movie, "The Bells of St. Mary's". Typical feel good movie. The sisters were praying that the rich landowner next door would just donate his land to the church so they could move out of their delapitated building and have the new building he had created, to use as their school. I almost had to laugh at how naive the notion was.......simply praying for a rich man with so much to give, to develop a conscience and a change of heart.
But what if we did get back to basics and start over by remembering to pray as a nation in a collective unison on a continuous basis.......AND ask for what we need. It may be our only hope, to redirect our thoughts as to what is really important for this world. The more we pray, the more it will be reflected in how we see the world. A collective consciousness reintroduced into our heart, opening our eyes to see just how many weeds we ourselves have placed in this beautiful garden.
Allowing others to intellectualize the irrelevancy of the church and it's people, may become our greatest error, because this is where our power lies for change to occur.
Comments
LBmuskoka
Posted on: 12/05/2011 07:45
And from Sojourners - bold emphasis mine
We Have the Technology
by Lyndsay Moseley
[...]
Now, researchers Mark Jacobson of Stanford and Mark Delucchi of U.C. Davis have calculated that it is possible to meet 100 percent of world energy demand using only energy from clean sources by 2050. They say we can do it -- and, what's more, we can do it using only off-the-shelf technology.
[....]
What's the greatest obstacle to realizing their vision? According to Jacobson and Delucchi, it is not technological or even economic, but social and political. As they point out, "current energy markets, institutions, and policies have been developed to support the production and use of fossil fuels."
[...]
Clean-energy advocates in the U.S. have prioritized the goals of required renewable energy targets, energy efficiency measures, and an end to the $10 billion in U.S. subsidies to dirty fuels, but these policies are up against relentless opposition from those who benefit from the status quo. If demand remains steady, policies to systematically shutter old, polluting power plants are essential to creating a strong market for clean energy.
As costs come down for renewables, we are waking up to the true costs of dependence on dirty energy: how it leaves our lives and communities in ruins. From extraction to combustion to waste disposal, hidden costs burden society in the form of health problems, irreversible environmental damage, and even premature death. Harvard Medical School analysts say coal alone generates as much as $523 billion per year in burdens to society, which is more than twice the total amount of electric utility revenue in 2009
***********************
Think of it as an investment in the future.
A man has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.
D. Elton Trueblood
waterfall
Posted on: 12/05/2011 11:15
Yesterday I watched the old movie, "The Bells of St. Mary's". Typical feel good movie. The sisters were praying that the rich landowner next door would just donate his land to the church so they could move out of their delapitated building and have the new building he had created, to use as their school. I almost had to laugh at how naive the notion was.......simply praying for a rich man with so much to give, to develop a conscience and a change of heart.
But what if we did get back to basics and start over by remembering to pray as a nation in a collective unison on a continuous basis.......AND ask for what we need. It may be our only hope, to redirect our thoughts as to what is really important for this world. The more we pray, the more it will be reflected in how we see the world. A collective consciousness reintroduced into our heart, opening our eyes to see just how many weeds we ourselves have placed in this beautiful garden.
Allowing others to intellectualize the irrelevancy of the church and it's people, may become our greatest error, because this is where our power lies for change to occur.